The bestselling books in Canada for the week ending Nov. 30, 2022

What could be more welcome for Christmas than a new Louise Penny novel involving her sleuth Chief Inspector Gamage? It debuts this week at No. 3 on the Canadian Fiction list. Its official pub date (the date when its publishers assume it’s in all Canadian bookstores) was just a day before we compiled the list, so it will probably rise in the ranking next week, perhaps enough to displace Suzette Mayr’s prize-winning “The Sleeping Car Porter,” holding its own at No. 1. Which comes out on top will be a battle of the Giller Bump versus the Santa Surprise.

If you have ever doubted that hockey was a national obsession (or that every year we wonder what Dad would like for Christmas), check out the Canadian Non-Fiction list, where five of the 10 books are about life on the rink.

Even this week’s Self-Help list is filled with visions of sugarplums. Yes, of course Michelle Obama’s prescriptive “The Light We Carry,” remains the book most Canadians bought last week, and it’s No. 1 on Self-Help, but the Chicken Soup for the Soul people have two inspirationally festive books on this week’s list: “The Magic of Christmas,” at No. 4, and “Miracles and the Unexplainable,” at No. 7.

— Sarah Murdoch

The bestseller lists are compiled by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited from information provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData.

ORIGINAL FICTION

1. It Starts with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (6)*

2. It Ends with Us, Colleen Hoover, Atria (65)

3. The Choice, Nora Roberts, St. Martin’s (1)

4. The Boys from Biloxi, John Grisham, Doubleday (6)

5. Verity, Colleen Hoover, Grand Central (48)

6. Fairy Tale, Stephen King, Scribner (12)

7. The Whittiers, Danielle Steel, Delacorte (1)

8. Desert Star, Michael Connelly, Little Brown (3)

9. Reminders of Him, Colleen Hoover, Montlake (26)

10. The Sleeping Car Porter, Suzette Mayr, Coach House (x)

ORIGINAL NON-FICTION

1. Guinness World Records 2023, Guinness World Records (13)

2. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry, Flatiron (4)

3. Surrender, Bono, Doubleday Canada (4)

4. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy, Simon & Schuster (15)

5. Playing the Long Game, Christine Sinclair, Stephen Brunt, Random House Canada (4)

6. All Roads Home, Bryan Trottier, Stephen Brunt, McClelland & Stewart (5)

7. True Reconciliation, Jody Wilson-Raybould, McClelland & Stewart (3)

8. Prisoners of the Castle, Ben Macintyre, Signal (3)

9. Hockey Hall of Fame True Stories, Eric Zweig, Firefly

10. The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book, Jerry Seinfeld, Simon & Schuster (1)

CANADIAN FICTION

1. The Sleeping Car Porter, Suzette Mayr, Coach House

2. Healing Through Words, Rupi Kaur, Simon & Schuster

3. A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny, Minotaur

4. Look Both Ways, Linwood Barclay, William Morrow

5. The Apollo Murders, Chris Hadfield, Vintage Canada

6. Snowflakes and Starlight, Debbie Macomber, JoAnn Ross, Jennifer Snow, MIRA

7. The Last Chairlift, John Irving, Knopf Canada

8. Fayne, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Knopf Canada

9. All I Want for Christmas, Maggie Knox, Viking

10. The End of Her, Shari Lapena, Seal

CANADIAN NON-FICTION

1. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew Perry, Flatiron

2. Playing the Long Game, Christine Sinclair, Random House Canada

3. Talking to Canadians, Rick Mercer, Anchor Canada

4. All Roads Home, Bryan Trottier, Stephen Brunt, McClelland & Stewart

5. True Reconciliation, Jody Wilson-Raybould, McClelland & Stewart

6. Hockey Hall of Fame True Stories, Eric Zweig, Firefly

7. 12 Rules for Life, Jordan B. Peterson, Random House Canada

8. Hockey Moms, Theresa Bailey, Terry Marcotte, Collins

9. No One Wins Alone, Mark Messier, Jimmy Roberts, Simon & Schuster

10. The Series, Ken Dryden, McClelland & Stewart

CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULT

1. Diper Överlöde (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #17), Jeff Kinney, Amulet

2. The Sour Grape, Jory John, Pete Oswald, HarperCollins

3. The Bad Guys in the Others?! (Bad Guys #16), Aaron Blabey, Scholastic Paperbacks

4. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas, Alice Schertle, Jill McElmurry, Clarion

5. Jessi’s Secret Language (The Babysitter’s Club #12), Ann M. Martin, Chan Chau, Scholastic

6. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson, Ember

7. The Cool Bean Presents: As Cool As It Gets, Jory John, Pete Oswald, HarperCollins

8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Seuss, Random House Books for Young Readers

9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling, Jim Kay, Neil Packer, Bloomsbury Children’s Books

10. Pokémon: Super Deluxe Essential Handbook, Scholastic

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

1. The Light We Carry, Michelle Obama, Crown

2. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson, Harper

4. Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Christmas, Amy Newmark, Chicken Soup for the Soul

5. The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene, Joost Elffers, Penguin

6. The Mountain is You, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

7. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and the Unexplainable, Amy Newark, Chicken Soup for the Soul

8. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, Pocket

9. The Silva Mind Control Method, Jose Silva, Philip Miele, Gallery

10. When You’re Read, This Is How You Heal, Brianna Wiest, Thought Catalog

* Number of weeks on list

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